Louisiana transportation committee receives updates on construction projects
(The Center Square) — The Louisiana House Transportation Committee approved the use of the Construction Management at Risk method for two major projects at its meeting last week.
CMAR is a project delivery method in which the owner hires a construction manager to oversee the project from design to construction closeout and deliver it with a guaranteed maximum price provided to the owner prior to the bid stage.
The first plan discussed at the hearing on Sept. 20 was the reconfiguration and renovation to the Shrine on Airline in Metairie, LA. The Shrine is a sports stadium that has been mostly vacant since the Babycakes minor league baseball team departed after the 2019 season.
The second construction project approved for CMAR entails expansion, renovation, and infrastructure improvement to the training facility for the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office.
The Department of Transportation and Development updated the committee on the status of the transportation projects funded during the 2024 regular session.
Eighteen of these such projects were let in the first quarter using more than $48 million of of a total $285 million allocated to the Louisiana Transportation Infrastructure Fund for fiscal year 2025. This includes four that were let on Sept. 18 that are pending bid awards.
Terrebonne is home to three of these projects and 15 other parishes have one. In the second through fourth quarter, 39 more projects are scheduled to move to the next phase.
Legislators were also updated on the Interstate 49 connector project. The Lafayette based connector is a 5.5-mile highway project that will extend Interstate 49 from Interstate 10 to the Lafayette Regional Airport. The project’s goals include improving hurricane evacuation, creating safe infrastructure, and extending the cities’ energy corridor.
Dr. Timothy J. Magner, president of the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, spoke to the committee about what has made the project take so long to complete and why it needs to be done.
“Wat we’re asking really today is your continued vigilance in helping us complete this highway,” Magner said in regards to quickly approving monies for the next phases of the project.
